“There was a time you could build a whole synth from a parts bin at Halted. Now I need a VPN just to find an ATmega chip that isn’t counterfeit.”
— Wing

🧰 Building in 2023: Less Maker, More Forager#

Remember when you could order a dev board from SparkFun, slap in a few passives from Digi-Key, and have your blinking prototype up by the weekend?

Now it’s:

  • “Backordered until Q4.”
  • “MOQ: 3,000 units.”
  • “This product is discontinued due to global constraints.”

And half the eBay listings look like someone printed a screenshot of a datasheet and sold it as a module.

🏭 What Happened?#

Global reasons:#

  • 2020–2022 supply chain disruptions (COVID, port delays)
  • Semiconductor shortages that hit even hobbyist ICs
  • Big companies bulk-buying microcontrollers, sensors, and power chips for appliances, cars, and IoT toothbrushes

Structural changes:#

  • Classic components (e.g. ATmega328P, FTDI chips, old MOSFETs) being phased out or hoarded
  • Chinese suppliers consolidating or switching SKUs quietly
  • Maker platforms prioritizing their branded dev boards over raw parts

🧠 The Retro Parts Privilege#

Back in the 2000s:

  • You could walk into Fry’s and grab a logic IC for a school project
  • Surplus stores carried Soviet-era tube gear and full pallets of DIP sockets
  • RadioShack had drawers of tactile switches and resistors (yes, they were overpriced—but they were there)

Now?

  • You might wait 4–12 weeks for a Teensy board
  • Half your BOM gets replaced with sketchy “equivalents”
  • Aliexpress listings lie. Constantly.

⚠️ The Maker Dilemma in 2023#

You either:

  1. Wait for official channels to restock (and pay the price),
  2. Scavenge from old equipment (RIP, working DVD players), or
  3. Redesign projects around whatever is available this week

We’re not designing for function—we’re designing for availability.

🧓 Wing’s Tinkerer’s Warning#

It’s not that making is dead. It’s just become something else.

Less: “What do I want to build?”
More: “What can I still source that hasn’t been absorbed into the Amazon-supply-black-hole or replaced by a sealed blob on a proprietary PCB?”

We’ve traded access for abstraction.
And I miss the parts bins.

🔧 Solutions? Sort of.#

  • Local hackerspaces sometimes have gold. Ask around.
  • Vintage parts lots on ham radio forums are still a thing.
  • Learn to love substitution charts. And ZIF sockets.
  • And if you find a good source for tactile switches? Don’t tell anyone. Guard it like a family recipe.

💬 Still building in this mess? Have a secret stash or sourcing tip? Reach out. Because the fewer parts we can find, the more we need each other.